...This will sound very mercenary [it's not meant to] but Arab crowned heads have a tradition of being very, very generous with gifts of beautiful jewellery - some strikingly modern but very tasteful and I am sure that there have been some exquisite pieces given to Catherine...

Alex

Since they asked for charitable donations instead, I doubt that there were any gifts of jewels for the wedding. There may be gifts once he becomes PoW.

If it turns out that the middle-eastern houses have given jewels, please post!

Thank you for finding that! The Royal Asscher tiara kind of a harsh looking tiara IMO - not soft or romantic looking. The Judith Ripka "sapphire" tiara is definately the best looking tiara of that bunch. Personally, I'd like to see Diana's sapphire Saudi wedding parure remade into a tiara.

I agree about the Royal Asscher tiara...it's rather grim looking indeed. Thanks but no thanks as we say here in the USA!

As someone else has posted, if the Arab potentates did make any "bling" gifts I want to see them or read about them pronto...when Charles and Diana got married in 1981 I remember reading about sapphires the size of Easter eggs and I nearly fainted...St James Palace actually had the some of the jewels on display while the new Princess of Wales was off on her honeymoon!

I think because of the economic downturn in Britain and all over the world it was very sensitive AND savvy of the Cambridges not to request gifts, but charitable donations instead.

There'd only be a full state banquet if the Queen was attending, as she's the Head of State. There could be a semi-state banquet, though; that is, a banquet that's a bit less formal. It would be nice to see Kate where a tiara here.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tiggersk8

I still have my hopes for a Tiara for a State Banquet. They will be in Ottawa during our Country's Birthday. I can't see PM Harper not holding one in honour of their visit.

There'd only be a full state banquet if the Queen was attending, as she's the Head of State. There could be a semi-state banquet, though; that is, a banquet that's a bit less formal. It would be nice to see Kate where a tiara here.

Lovely as it might be to see Catherine in a tiara, I would be surprised if she wore one in Canada.

Since they asked for charitable donations instead, I doubt that there were any gifts of jewels for the wedding. There may be gifts once he becomes PoW.

If it turns out that the middle-eastern houses have given jewels, please post!

Perhaps HM should pass along the opals to Kate.

You are of course quite right about the Charitable donations, but I understand that the Royal Couple were accepting presents as well; the basic rule seemed to be 'ordinary guests' [Politicians / Beckhams / Charity officials/ Elton Johns etc] were to make donations but that friends/family/royals etc were under no such strictures.

Gradually, details of gifts rather than donations are coming into the public domain: the City of London's Mayor Boris Johnson gave a bike, the people of Bucklesbury bought a gift [I have fogotten what exactly, but will have a think......].

As a general rule, details of gifts of jewellery take a little longer to slip out; I can remember Camilla was seen wearing a lovely piece; enquiries were directed to BP and a member of staff 'let slip' the donor's identity [Arab Crowned Head from memory].

Altough prior to her wedding I would not have thought that Catherine was a 'jewellery type of girl', what with Diana's engagement ring and the wonderful diamond earrings featuring the Oak detail [from the new Middleton family arms], I think that Catherine is heading in the right direction for all of us who have an interest in Royal Jewellery!

I also think that she doesn't show much interest in jewellery. So far she usually wore comparatively small earrings, sometimes combined with a modest necklace or bracelet. At least she hasn't yet shown a preferance for big, showy costume jewellery.

When it comes to her wedding tiara, I can well imagine that she was very content with the rather small and not so extravagant scroll tiara. It fitted her style well and she really looked herself.

In one of the many commemorative royal wedding magazines on the newstands, one mentions Catherine "already has a privately commissioned 120-carat tiara from Royal Asscher". Does anybody know anything about this?

(It's the From the editors ofUS Weekly Collector's Edition pg 41, not the regular newstand issue.)

I have additional info in the wedding tiara thread for Catherine. I have the issue that you speak of and that is what is says.

When Prince William struggled to fit the ring on his bride’s finger at the Royal Wedding, most of the two billion people watching probably put it down to nerves. But the real reason for those awkward few seconds was that Kate had asked for her ring to be made a size too small.

Kate asked Wartski, who made the ring, to make it a size smaller so it didn’t slip off.

When Prince William struggled to fit the ring on his bride’s finger at the Royal Wedding, most of the two billion people watching probably put it down to nerves. But the real reason for those awkward few seconds was that Kate had asked for her ring to be made a size too small.

Kate asked Wartski, who made the ring, to make it a size smaller so it didn’t slip off.

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That was a bad idea IMO. Now when she swells with pregnancy, it'll have to be cut off if she doesn't remove it early enough.